| sodefrin: a female-attracting peptide pheromone in newt cloacal glands. | a decapeptide called sodefrin was isolated from the abdominal gland of the cloaca of the male red-bellied newt, cynops pyrrhogaster. the native peptide, as well as the synthetic one, had a female-attracting activity. sodefrin was found in the apical portion of the epithelial cells of the abdominal gland. sodefrin is apparently species specific because it did not attract females of cynops ensicauda. this is the first amphibian pheromone to be identified and the first peptide pheromone identified ... | 1995 | 7886452 |
| radioimmunoassay of a newt sex pheromone, sodefrin, and the influence of hormones on its level in the abdominal gland. | a specific and sensitive radioimmunoassay (ria) was developed for the measurement of sodefrin, a female-attracting decapeptide pheromone of the red-bellied newt, cynops pyrrhogaster. sodefrin synthesized according to the amino acid sequence of native sodefrin, isolated from the abdominal glands of the cloaca of the male newt, was used as a reference standard. an antiserum to sodefrin was produced by immunizing a rabbit with synthetic sodefrin that was extended on its c-terminus with cys coupled ... | 1996 | 8954769 |
| sodefrin: a novel sex pheromone in a newt. | the abdominal gland in the male red-bellied newt, cynops pyrrhogaster, is the source of a female-attracting pheromone. an attempt was made to isolate and characterize the female-attracting pheromone in the abdominal glands of male newts. the active substance, named sodefrin (from the japanese 'sodefuri' which means 'soliciting') has been isolated and shown to be a novel decapeptide with the sequence, ser-ile-pro-ser-lys-asp-ala-leu-leu-lys. its minimum effective concentration in water is 0.1-1.0 ... | 1999 | 10051096 |
| hormonal control of urodele reproductive behavior. | hormonal control of expression of courtship behavior and of development of structures related to the reproductive behavior in two species of japanese newts, cynops pyrrhogaster and cynops ensicauda, was described. prolactin (prl) and androgen were essential factors for eliciting courtship behavior. in addition, arginine vasotocin markedly enhanced the expression of courtship behavior. prl induced migration to water, in which courtship and oviposition take place, and converted the integument from ... | 2000 | 10874169 |
| environmental dna metabarcoding to detect pathogenic leptospira and associated organisms in leptospirosis-endemic areas of japan. | leptospires, which cause the zoonotic disease leptospirosis, persist in soil and aqueous environments. several factors, including rainfall, the presence of reservoir animals, and various abiotic and biotic components interact to influence leptospiral survival, persistence, and pathogenicity in the environment. however, how these factors modulate the risk of infection is poorly understood. here we developed an approach using environmental dna (edna) metabarcoding for detecting the microbiome, ver ... | 2019 | 31024059 |
| production of a recombinant newt growth hormone and its application for the development of a radioimmunoassay. | complementary dna (cdna) encoding newt (cynops pyrrhogaster) growth hormone (ngh) was cloned from a cdna library constructed from mrnas of newt pituitary glands and was expressed in escherichia coli. based on northern blot analysis using the cdna as a probe, the ngh mrna was estimated to be 940 bases in length. the recombinant ngh (nghr) had a molecular mass of 22 kda as determined by sds-page and possessed considerable bioactivity as determined in a xenopus cartilage assay. using the nghr, we p ... | 2000 | 10620427 |
| actions of 6-epitetrodotoxin and 11-deoxytetrodotoxin on the frog skeletal muscle fiber. | 6-epitetrodotoxin (6-epittx) and 11-deoxytetrodotoxin (11-deoxyttx), isolated from an okinawan newt, cynops ensicauda, were tested for sodium-channel blocking effects on the voltage-clamped frog skeletal muscle fiber. in 6-epittx, the c-6 -oh is in an epimeric position; in 11-deoxyttx, c-11 has a methyl in place of a hydroxymethyl group. at ph 7.25, the ed50s for reducing ina are: 4.1 nm (ttx), 96 nm (6-epittx), and 445 nm (11-deoxyttx). in each analogue, the lowered potency can be attributed en ... | 1992 | 1325687 |
| glycoconjugate expression in the olfactory bulb of the premetamorphic larva of the japanese sword-tailed newt (cynops ensicauda). | we examined the organization of the olfactory organ and assessed the lectin histochemistry to investigate the glycoconjugate distribution of the olfactory bulb in premetamorphic larvae of cynops ensicauda. the nasal cavity was an oval chamber that contained olfactory epithelium and a primitive vomeronasal organ. secretory products were found in the supporting cells of the two sensory epithelia and in the respiratory cells. ten lectins bound to the olfactory and vomeronasal nerve fibers as well a ... | 2018 | 29540650 |
| isolation and biological activity of 8- epitetrodotoxin and the structure of a possible biosynthetic shunt product of tetrodotoxin, cep-226a, from the newt cynops ensicauda popei. | tetrodotoxin (ttx, 1), a potent neurotoxin, has been found in various animal species in both marine and terrestrial environments. in this study, a new ttx analogue, 8- epittx (2), and a possible biosynthetic shunt compound of ttx, cep-226a (3), were isolated from the newt cynops ensicauda popei. the voltage-gated sodium ion channel (nav) blocking activity of 2 and 6- epittx (4), a known analogue, were investigated by a colorimetric cell-based assay and compared with that of 1. the ec50 values fo ... | 2019 | 31117524 |
| structures of n-hydroxy-type tetrodotoxin analogues and bicyclic guanidinium compounds found in toxic newts. | the biosynthesis of tetrodotoxin (ttx, 1), a potent neurotoxin widely distributed in marine and terrestrial metazoans, remains unresolved. a significant issue has been identifying intermediates and shunt products associated with the biosynthetic pathway of ttx. we investigated ttx biosynthesis by screening and identifying new ttx-related compounds from cynops ensicauda popei and taricha granulosa. mass spectrometry (ms)-guided screening identified two new n-hydroxy ttx analogues in newts: 1-hydr ... | 2020 | 32896120 |
| sperm motility initiating substance may be insufficient to induce forward motility of cynops ensicauda sperm. | sperm motility-initiating substance (smis) is a key protein for internal fertilization of the newt, cynops pyrrhogaster, and commonly enhances forward sperm motility in some amphibian species, including external fertilizers. smis action varies among different species in correlation with a species-specific reproductive environment. in the present study, we identified the gene of c. ensicauda smis (cesmis) and examined the mechanism of smis action with reference to that of the closely related cyno ... | 2017 | 28586125 |
| heterogeneous expression of glycoconjugates in the primary olfactory centre of the japanese sword-tailed newt (cynops ensicauda). | histochemical organization of the caudata olfactory system remains largely unknown, despite this amphibian order showing phylogenetic diversity in the development of the vomeronasal organ and its primary centre, the accessory olfactory bulb. here, we investigated the glycoconjugate distribution in the olfactory bulb of a semi-aquatic salamander, the japanese sword-tailed newt (cynops ensicauda), by histochemical analysis of the lectins that were present. eleven lectins showed a specific binding ... | 2017 | 29052233 |
| molecular cloning of newt sex pheromone precursor cdnas: evidence for the existence of species-specific forms of pheromones. | cloning of cdna encoding a decapeptide pheromone (sodefrin) that attracts conspecific female newts was attempted. a cdna clone encoding a protein consisting of 189 amino acid residues including a sodefrin sequence was isolated from a cynops pyrrhogaster abdominal gland cdna library. likewise, a cdna clone encoding a molecule comparable to the sodefrin precursor was obtained from a cynops ensicauda abdominal gland cdna library. this clone encoded a precursor protein of 192 amino acid residues, in ... | 1999 | 10471817 |
| silefrin, a sodefrin-like pheromone in the abdominal gland of the sword-tailed newt, cynops ensicauda. | sodefrin-like female-attracting pheromone was purified from the abdominal glands of male sword-tailed newts, cynops ensicauda, by gel-filtration chromatography and reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography. the final product comprises 10 amino acid residues with the sequence silskdaqlk which coincided with the sequence deduced from its precursor cdna. this peptide was designated silefrin. the sequence of silefrin was different from that of sodefrin by two amino acid residues, with su ... | 2000 | 10788624 |
| effect of prolactin and androgen on the expression of the female-attracting pheromone silefrin in the abdominal gland of the newt, cynops ensicauda. | silefrin is a sodefrin-like, female-attracting pheromone comprising 10 amino acids that was isolated from the abdominal gland of the sword-tailed newt, cynops ensicauda. hormonal effects on the silefrin precursor mrna expression and silefrin content in the abdominal gland were investigated in the present study by using northern blot analysis and radioimmunoassay, respectively. in the abdominal gland of newts treated with prolactin (prl) plus testosterone propionate (tp), silefrin precursor mrna ... | 2000 | 11090459 |
| expression of prolactin receptor mrna in the abdominal gland of the newt cynops ensicauda. | to further the understanding that the structural development of the cynops ensicauda abdominal gland and the synthesis of the pheromone silefrin in the gland are under the control of prolactin and androgen, we sought to demonstrate the presence of prolactin receptor (prlr) mrna in the gland. firstly, prlr cdna was isolated from an abdominal gland cdna library. a cdna consisting of a 415-bp 5'-untranslated region, 1878-bp open reading frame and 175-bp 3'-untranslated region was obtained. the dedu ... | 2004 | 15165574 |
| phylogeny and phylogeography of the sword-tailed newt, cynops ensicauda (amphibia: caudata), as revealed by nucleotide sequences of mitochondrial dna. | we investigated the phylogenetic relationships and phylogeography among individuals of the endemic newt (cynops ensicauda) of the central ryukyus, japan based on the mitochondrial cytochrome b gene. the results of phylogenetic analyses showed the presence of remarkable differentiation between assemblages from the amami and okinawa island groups, supporting the validity of the subspecies c. e. popei described from the latter on morphological grounds. the group of individuals from okinawa island g ... | 2010 | 19900570 |
| isolation and structural determination of the first 8-epi-type tetrodotoxin analogs from the newt, cynops ensicauda popei, and comparison of tetrodotoxin analogs profiles of this newt and the puffer fish, fugu poecilonotus. | identification of new tetrodotoxin (ttx) analogs from ttx-possessing animals might provide insight into its biosynthesis and metabolism. in this study, four new analogs, 8-epi-5,6,11-trideoxyttx, 4,9-anhydro-8-epi-5,6,11-trideoxyttx, 1-hydroxy-8-epi-5,6,11-trideoxyttx, and 1-hydroxy-4,4a-anhydro-8-epi-5,6,11-trideoxyttx, were isolated from the newt, cynops ensicauda popei, and their structures were determined using spectroscopic methods. these are the first 8-epi-type analogs of ttx that have be ... | 2012 | 22611361 |
| c5-c10 directly bonded tetrodotoxin analogues: possible biosynthetic precursors of tetrodotoxin from newts. | the identification of novel tetrodotoxin (ttx, 1) analogues would significantly contribute to the elucidation of its biosynthetic pathway. in this study, the first c5-c10 directly bonded ttx analogues, 4,9-anhydro-10-hemiketal-5-deoxyttx (2) and 4,9-anhydro-8-epi-10-hemiketal-5,6,11-trideoxyttx (3), were found in the newt cynops ensicauda popei by using a screening method involving hilic-lc-ms/ms focused on the fragment ions of ttx analogues, and their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic ... | 2014 | 25382791 |
| locomotion pattern and trunk musculoskeletal architecture among urodela. | we comparatively examined the trunk musculature and prezygapophyseal angle of mid-trunk vertebra in eight urodele species with different locomotive modes (aquatic siren intermedia, amphiuma tridactylum, necturus maculosus and andrias japonicus; semi-aquatic cynops pyrrhogaster, cynops ensicauda; and terrestrial hynobius nigrescens, hynobius lichenatus and ambystoma tigrinum). we found that the more terrestrial species were characterized by larger dorsal and abdominal muscle weight ratios compare ... | 2015 | 25914411 |